


rewrite the stars

by writerforlife



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), who's ready for a healthy dose of sadness and foreshadowing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 16:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16432742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerforlife/pseuds/writerforlife
Summary: Steve and Bucky have one last night together before Steve goes to track down Vision and the Mind Stone. Steve has opinions about the dangers that come with missions.





	rewrite the stars

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this isn't OOC? I wrote this quickly because inspiration came and I wasn't about to let it escape

Steve lays with Bucky in his arms in Bucky’s quiet hut on the edge of civilization, the night quiet around them. The cellphone he carried for two years lays by the rest of his and Bucky’s discarded clothes.

“You have to go,” Bucky says.

“I know.” Steve closes his eyes, pretending that they have all night to lay together. Pretending that Bruce—not Tony, because Tony is gone, Tony has disappeared into space, Tony could be dead and Steve didn’t apologize—didn’t call in a panic about an intergalactic threat and needing Vision found immediately. Pretending that Sam and Natasha aren’t waiting for him on the border, ready to chase down Wanda and Vision.

“So why aren’t you going?” Bucky asks.

“Don’t want this to be real.” Steve opens his eyes and turns onto his side so he can trace a finger down Bucky’s jaw. “Whenever I get started on one of these things, I always seem to lose you at the end.”

Bucky sighs. “Stevie—”

“Don’t _Stevie_ me. It’s true. I get you back just to lose you again.”

“Now you know how I felt when you weighed ninety pounds and couldn’t stay healthy.”

“Buck, please.” His voice trembles. He can’t stop it.

“Hey.” Bucky presses their foreheads together. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You always say that.”

“Fine. If you’re determined to be so dismal, then maybe we’re star-crossed and every time we find each other, we’re only gonna lose each other. Maybe that’s what the universe wants for us.” Bucky pulls away from Steve and folds his arm over his chest, breathing heavily. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Well, then I’m going to rewrite the stars,” Steve says. Bucky turns his head and blinks owlishly. “How hard can it be, Buck? Move a few galaxies, rearrange a few systems. I know a guy who can help me out, if he ever comes back to Earth. How hard can it be to write something in the stars?”

“What would you write?”

Steve studies Bucky. He could draw portrait after portrait and never capture all the nuances of the cant of his lips, the delicate tumble of his brown hair, the smooth curve of his muscles. _I’m going to lose you again_ , he thinks. _That’s the only way this story can end._ Isn’t that how it ended over and over? What would make this time different?

“That I love you,” Steve whispers. “And that I’d burn the world to keep you.”

Bucky groans and reaches for him. They press their lips together, slow and steady, and Steve thinks that he could stay here for an eternity and never itch for another fight if he could only have this. Bucky exhales and moves his hand lower. Just as Bucky’s fingers reach somewhere worthwhile, a goat outside bleats obnoxiously, shattering the quiet between them. Bucky chuckles, then Steve giggles, then they’re both laughing hysterically, collapsed against each other.

“Little punk’s named Steve,” Bucky wheezes, dissolving into another fit of laughter. “Always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong."

Steve grins as he stands and dresses, but the knot in his chest remains, hard and constant. 

“I’ll be here,” Bucky says. “I can fight if you need me.”

 _God,_ Steve thinks, _I hope you don’t have to_.

As he leaves the hut, he glances at the night sky. Constellations swim in the inky expanse, and every one seems to proclaim their fate. _You will lose him again, you will lose him again, you will lose him again._ He closes his eyes and exhales. There was nothing to worry about. If he kept his head, he could keep this mission separate from Bucky. It walked like war, talked like war, but this wasn’t war. Not yet, at least. He could tell himself that, as long as he was only _retrieving_ Vision and Tony wasn’t confirmed dead and Bucky was safe.

“I won’t lose you this time,” he whispers, then sets off into the night.


End file.
